Hillbilly Rockstar

by Lorelei James

  During the day when they were on the road, Devin pretty much kept to himself. Occasionally, she heard the strains of his guitar, but when he was in the back of the bus, she mostly stayed up front.

  But for some reason, today she hadn’t pulled the divider between the front and back spaces. So the music and their voices drifted to her in her cozy alcove across from her bunk.

  “No, that bridge is too close to the one on ‘Alibis and Ammo,’” Odette said.

  “It’ll sound different when we add bass and drums.”

  “Not different enough. Jase, Gage and Steve will take the easy way and play what’s familiar to them, so this has to sound unique.”

  “How about no instruments? Just my voice?”

  Silence. Then, “That would work. Let’s hear it from the top.”

  Devin sang about love being broken beyond repair.

  The haunting vocals coupled with the words caused goose bumps to break out across Liberty’s skin. She fought the urge to cry. What had happened in his romantic life that caused so much bone-deep sorrow?

  After that she couldn’t concentrate on her work. She listened as they fine-tuned rollicking drinking songs, followed by a sappy ballad. Somehow she held back her laughter as they discarded the words scour, dour, shower and plower, which were meant to rhyme with flower.

  Odette said, “How much of what we’ve been working on is for your next album?”

  “Some. Most. Hell, I don’t know. My audience knows what they’re getting with me. Some of what I’ve written isn’t my style. Doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s good. It’d just be better suited to someone else.”

  “For instance?” Odette prompted. “Because everything I’ve heard today is suited to you.”

  He strummed a few chords. “I’ve been workin’ on something. It’s a little rough.”

  Liberty closed her eyes when he started to sing, letting his velvety smooth voice wrap around her like a silken promise. The song spoke of a great divide. By the second verse, she understood what the words meant. Standing on the precipice of something great but being unable to take that first step. This time when Devin finished, Liberty was crying. Not an escaped teardrop or two but a flood of tears.

  Odette cleared her throat. “Uh, hate to tell you, but that song is all you. Keep it stripped down like that, in that almost confessional whisper tone, and I guarantee it’ll be a hit. Guarantee it, Dev.”

  “When did you become the psychic type who can see into the future?”

  “I don’t gotta have any special mind skills when my ears work just fine. That song is amazing.”

  Devin said something that made Odette laugh.

  Then, before Liberty prepared herself, Devin’s footsteps echoed toward her. He stopped when he saw her in the sitting area. “Oh. Hey. I hope we weren’t disturbing you.”

  “Not at all.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

  Shit. “Nothing.”

  “Then why is your face wet like you’ve been cryin’?”

  “Probably got dust in my eye when the air-conditioning kicked on.”

  “Try again.”

  “Allergies. I think I’m allergic to Oklahoma.”

  Devin crouched down. “Sweetheart, I know something caused the tears that made your makeup run.”

  She tried to discreetly wipe under her eyes, and her fingers came away black. God. Sometimes she sucked so bad at being a girl.

  Devin sighed, stood and walked to the bathroom, returning with a handful of tissues. “Here.”

  “Thanks.”

  He was being so sweet, which was probably what spurred her to blurt out, “How do you do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Write songs like that? Heartbreaking and beautiful with so much raw emotion.”

  “It’s gotta be good if it makes the toughest woman I know cry.”

  Liberty didn’t look at him. She just twisted the soggy tissue and said, “Don’t make fun of me.” Then she felt his warm fingers beneath her chin as he tipped her head up, forcing her to look at him.

  “I’m not. I’m not bein’ flip when I say I don’t know. Some songs just come easy. Some I work on for months and can’t seem to get right. That song? It . . .” His eyes were dark and so conflicted she couldn’t help but reach for his hand.

  “Devin. Sorry I pried. You don’t have to tell me.”

  “I would if I could, but even I don’t know where that song came from. I started it when I was havin’ one of them days. Where the gap between where I was and what I wanted just kept getting wider. But even back then the song wasn’t ringing true, so I set it aside. Just in the last couple days I was able to get it where it needed to be.”

  “I don’t know anything about music, but Odette does and she’s right. It’s an amazing song.”

  “Thank you.” He swept his thumb across her knuckles. “You don’t have to hide back here. You’re welcome to sit with us while we’re workin’.”

  “It wouldn’t bother you if I watched you?”

  “I play in front of crowds more than five thousand strong damn near every night.”

  Devin moved closer.

  He continued to stare at her, as if she were a challenge. Or maybe a puzzle. “This . . . attraction between us is makin’ you nervous, isn’t it?”

  “Very.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s probably not a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “I work for you.” After she’d said it, she knew it didn’t sound very convincing.

  “Technically, you work for Big Sky Promotions, not me.” His lips grazed the section of skin below her temple. “Is that the only reason?”

  “No.”

  He nuzzled her ear. “Give me another reason, Liberty.”

  “That voice of yours in my ear is scrambling my brain.”

  “Mmm-hmm. Still not a valid reason, so if you don’t want me to kiss you, say no.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Can’t what?” he said as he nibbled on her jaw.

  Tingles shot across her skin. “Can’t say no because I really want you to kiss me again.”

  He smiled against her cheek.

  “And that pisses me off.”

  Devin brushed his mouth across hers in a barely there kiss. “Is that a challenge for me to kiss the mad outta you?”

  “No. But—”

  “Liberty.”

  “What?”

  “Shut. Up.” He slanted his lips over hers and dove in.

  The heat was instantaneous.

  And so was the interruption.

  “Omigod! Seriously? I’m on a bus with the equivalent of horny teens.” Odette marched over and tugged the back of Devin’s shirt until he stood up. “Work. Now. No more breaks.”

  “One minute.”

  “No. Now,” Odette insisted.

  “I said I need another minute,” he snapped. “Go back up front or I’ll get Reg to stop the goddamn bus and I’ll throw you off myself.”

  Yikes. This sexually aroused side of him was hot.

  “Whatever.” Odette stomped away.

  Then all six foot three, two hundred ripped pounds of sexually aroused male loomed over her. “We’ll talk tonight after the show. Set some boundaries and all that since you love rules so damn much.”

  She smiled and shocked him by pulling him down for another steamy kiss. “It’s a date. Now go sing me a pretty song.”

  The show had been off tonight. Most people in the audience didn’t notice, but he knew, and that’s all that mattered.

  After their encore, Tay approached him. “Dev, I need to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “It’s personal.”

  He moved to the edge of the stage to hand Check his instrument.

  “Crying to Devin, are you?” Jase taunted behind them. “Typical of you, Tay. You’ve never been able to fight your own battles or even make your own decisions.”

  Tay whirled
around and shouted, “Shut up! This doesn’t concern you.”

  Jase all but threw his favorite guitar at Check. “The fuck it doesn’t. And, bitch, if you’re gonna be badmouthing me to Devin, I got a right to defend myself. And I have a goddamn say in this decision. This affects me too.”

  “Bitch?” Tay yelled. “Bitch?” Each time she yelled louder. “I haven’t begun to show you my bitchy side, asshole. God. I fucking hate you. What did I ever see in you?”

  “Back atcha, babe. But the truth is, you were too busy trying to stuff my cock in you at every opportunity to ever really look at me.”

  Jesus. Not again with these two. Always going for the low blow.

  “And look where that got us!” Tay picked up a microphone stand and swung it with all her might at Jase’s head.

  Jase ducked, but the corner of the base caught the edge of the riser and bounced back. It would’ve clipped Devin in the face if not for Liberty’s quick action—snagging it midair and knocking it to the ground.

  Odette, Steve, Gage and Leon looked at her like she’d morphed into a superhero, but that reaction was short-lived when Crash stepped between Tay and Jase, bellowing, “Enough! Everyone’s got shit to do. Get it fuckin’ done. Now.”

  Tay burst into tears, which brought Odette to her side.

  None of the rest of the band moved, but the crew scattered.

  “She has a legitimate reason for being upset.” Odette put her arm around Tay and glared at Jase. Then at Steve for good measure.

  Crash threw up his hands. “I warned you two.” He pointed to Tay and Jase. “Get it figured out—how to work together after you’ve stopped fucking—because I sure as fuck am not putting up with this bullshit the rest of the goddamn tour. You work for him.” He jerked his thumb at Devin. “But as tour manager, I have total hiring and firing discretion, and I will happily can both of your asses if you don’t start acting like professionals instead of lovelorn teenagers. Got me?”

  Jase walked away, and the rest of the guys followed.

  Crash said, “Dev, I need you to check out a couple of things during teardown before the buses take off.”

  “Fine.”

  Tay gave Devin a tear-filled look as Crash lumbered off.

  Fuck. He hated being in the middle of this. He spun around, right into Liberty.

  She set her hand on his chest and raised both eyebrows.

  “Don’t ask. Ain’t the first time they’ve dragged everyone into their shit, and it won’t be the last.”

  “Will Crash really fire them?”

  “I’d say no, but between the extra security concerns and working with ten different opening acts for this leg of the tour, he’s hanging on by a thread.”

  “I thought bands’ fighting was made up to sell more records.”

  “Not hardly.” He placed his hand over hers on his chest. “Thanks for keeping me from getting a blow to the head.”

  “That’s my job.”

  He wished it weren’t. He wished he could pull her into his arms, drag her back to the bus and lose himself in her for a few hours. “I can’t wait to be alone with you tonight.”

  “Same here. But we are going to talk first, right?”

  “Devin? I still need to talk to you,” Tay said behind him.

  “About what?”

  “I’m not being a drama queen when I say I can’t stay on the bus with Jase tonight. I can’t.”

  Devin turned around. “Tay—”

  “I’m serious this time. I’ll quit the tour before Crash can fire me if he tries to make me ride on the band bus.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Tay wiped her tears. “Let me stay with you on your bus. Just for one night. Please. I’ll sleep on the couch. Or on the floor. But I can’t . . . handle being around Jase.”

  “What about tomorrow night? And the night after that?” he demanded. “This problem ain’t goin’ away.”

  “I know. But he’s pressuring me. We’re together all the time, so I don’t have a moment’s peace just to think.”

  Devin loomed over her. “If you’re asking this because you want Jase to believe you’re in my bed—”

  “Puh-leez,” Odette inserted with a snort. “That’d be a little crowded since we all know Liberty is in your bed.”

  He counted to ten. “I’ll be sorry that I asked, but I need to know what’s goin’ on between you and Jase this time.”

  Tay looked at Odette and then burst into tears again. “I’m pregnant.”

  His jaw dropped.

  “Yes, Jase is the father.” She inhaled a shuddering breath. “You saw how he was tonight. Can you blame me for being unsure about whether I want to keep it?”

  Devin put his hands up. “I am not takin’ sides on this. You’ve got one night, Tay. One. Tomorrow night you’re either back on the band bus or off the tour. Got it?”

  She nodded. Then she threw herself at him, sobbing. “Thank you.”

  Devin looked at Liberty over Tay’s head and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

  Liberty’s expression didn’t change. But as soon as Tay released him, she stepped between them. “Hang on one second and we’ll head to the bus and get you settled.”

  Odette said, “I’ll grab your stuff.”

  “No. There will be no stuff grabbing besides a toothbrush and bedding,” Devin warned. “One night doesn’t mean tonight and all day tomorrow. We’ll be in Oklahoma City by ten a.m. That’s when my hospitality ends, Tay. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Liberty took him aside. “Once I’m in the bus, I’ll have to stay since I don’t trust Tay not to create a chance for a security breach in her distracted state.” She inhaled. Exhaled. “Which means the security guys will have to stay with you until teardown is done.”

  “Got it.” Devin ran his finger across her jaw. “Will you be in my bed when I get there?”

  “No. And I need you to lock your bedroom door tonight.”

  “Jesus, Liberty. Tay isn’t gonna try to sleep fuck me or something.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about. She’s emotional, and people in a mind-set where emotions overrule normal thought processes are capable of doing things you’d never expect. To guard against that, I’m telling you to lock your door.”

  She had the don’t-question-me look on her face, which meant arguing was moot, and if he tried, well, she’d make her alternate suggestion even more extreme. “Fine. But I want all your firearms locked up tonight. Every. One. The last thing I need to worry about is you shooting a pregnant woman while I’m locked in my room.”

  “No problem.”

  They stared at each other.

  “This isn’t at all how I wanted our night to end.”

  “Me either.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Early the next afternoon, since Devin was under the watch of venue security, Liberty returned to the bus to take a shower after her workout.

  With no one around, she stripped in front of her bunk. She jammed her workout clothes in the overflowing hamper and laid her outfit out on her bed. Hitting the light switch in her tiny bathroom, she realized the